Racing 92 vs Munster, Sun 12th Jan 3:15pm, BT Sport

Real look of knife to a gunfight off that Munster backrow. O'Donoghue is a fine 6/8 but doesn't appear to have the instincts of an openside. O'Mahony doesn't possess the physical tools for blindside. It would be much better in my opinion to put him at 7 and ask him to use his reading of the game to support play. Stander is such a hard worker, and can pull out inspirational moments, but he's not really a footballer, which is a problem from your number 8. Putting him in at blindside would be a better fit. He could get to work without having to make too many decisions.

Winning the backrow battle is almost invariably key to any Irish success on the rugby field. I'm not sure this unit, in this configuration, has it in them to have enough positive influence. For me, 6. Stander, 7. POM, 8. Botha was the combination to go for, especially on this fast, fake pitch, where ball-carrying and winning momentum has heightened importance. You'd have another carrier to take the pressure off Stander (he's always better with another backrow carrier alongside him), and having two brutes with him would free up O'Mahony to concentrate on the cerebral stuff.